1660 people recently signed a petition asking the Government to consider phasing in safe standing areas (see all the details on the Number 10 Petitions website, the key parts of which are copied below). Perhaps the relatively low take up played some part in the pathetically poor response from the government, which seemed to deliberately misunderstand the petition request.
The petition very specifically asked for ‘smaller, limited terracing’. The response chose to take this as a ‘return to standing’ and to respond with the well-understood problems caused by an all-standing environment (not everyone can see) and to ignore the very sensible request to create safe standing areas in addition to safe seating, for those who want it.
I prefer to sit most of the time at football matches but I understand why many prefer to stand. I would prefer they had somewhere else to do it except infront of me. I regularly hear people at away grounds complaining to stewards that for the £20, £30, £40, £whatever, they paid for the ticket they have the right to stand if they want. The people behind who have paid the same and prefer to sit generally stay quieter and reluctantly stand, and in the end, no one’s happy.
Give people who want to stand a safe area to do so, and give people who prefer to sit a safe area do that. You can fit more people in the ground, reduce prices, and create choice (isn’t that what we all want?), and a better atmosphere for all along the way. Everyone’s happy.
Details of Petition:
“When the Taylor report was commissioned and it’s findings delivered to the Football Leaugue regarding standing areas at football grounds. One recommendation was as follows: “The report stated that standing accommodation is not intrinsically unsafe, but the government decided that no standing accommodation was to be allowed at all”. With the massive investment of football stadia in both safety and facilities, I petition the Goverment to allow limited standing at football stadia. It would make football more attractive to low earners who were priced out of attending all seater games and raise the atmosphere at football matches. I propose this to enhance fooball as a game and not to under estimate the tragedy, misery and grief suffered by those connected to the Hillsbourough disaster, and that we all felt as a Nation together. It’s nearly 20 years on since that horrfic day and the stadia are now ready to safely introduce smaller, limited terracing.”
The Government’s response
“The Government continues to support Lord Taylor’s recommendation that the all-seater stadium policy does more to ensure safety and security at football grounds than any other single measure. It is our view that the excellent safety record over the past 18 years at football grounds is a direct result of the approach to safety, disorder and crowd management, making our stadia some of the safest, best attended and most welcoming in the world.
The campaign for standing is not universally popular among football supporters (especially among families, the older generation and the disabled) whom have all returned in greater number to watch matches since seating was introduced.
A return to standing would also be unsupported by top-division football clubs and, in May 2006, they with the football authorities unanimously agreed they did not want a return to standing on terraces and that seating was the safest way to watch a match.”
I’m old enough to remember pre-Taylor report football. Terracing = violence. The reason why there is so little agro in grounds these days is because it is very difficult to cause trouble when you are surrounded by plastic seats. Let’s not kid ourselves, the trouble would return if we did away with seats.
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I took my wife to the recent bolton away game, and despite the fact that there were multiple signs inside the stadium suggesting people had to sit down, we had to stand for the entire game. This was very frustrating as it was down to about 3 people who would not sit down. This meant that everyone had to stand including some wolves fans of pensionable age, my wife (4 months pregnant at the time), and some children who i imagine couldn’t see anything, despite standing on the seats. It was just a selfish minority causing the problem and really wound me up. I even asked the steward and he said they could do nothing about it despite reviews I read about the reebok stadium having a zero tolerance policy on this subject. I agree with standing areas and think they were great provided everyone is of similar build, but some people need to sit down, and should not be forgotten or pushed away from games!
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Thanks for the comments folks.
@billyraff: I admit I don’t remember the pre-Taylor report days – my only experience of terracing is a couple of grounds with very small standing areas remaining – Colchester, for one, if I recall. This is a very small area, not like the terraces of old, which could never come back, and I don’t remember it making a big difference except my poor legs getting tired. I still think the problem of violence is more of the people at matches than whether they’re seated or standing – restricted by seats or otherwise. And perhaps a fair amount has changed in the last 15 years, for good and bad, in terms of the majority of people going to football matches.
@GB: quite sympathise. The main reason I’d support limited standing areas is so that I can sit down and not be aching at the end of a game.
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I,like GB, was also at the recent Bolton away game, and being one of those referred to as “of pensionable age”, prefer to sit on the seat for which I have paid.
I have previously written to the club on the subject, suggesting that the F.A., Premier League, local authority et al take punative measures against those who refuse to be seated during normal passages of play. As yet I have received no response.
Perhaps too difficult a subject to tackle head on ?
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Thanks for letting me know your experience. Interesting to have heard from a few who, like me, prefer to sit during normal play, but not anyone who says they actually want to stand – but I’m sure they exist else I wouldn’t end up standing behind them so often.
As you’ve both highlighted, it’s mainly at away games that standing is a problem. At Molineux you can be pretty sure that if you have a ticket in the Southbank you’ll be standing, so can get one elsewhere if you want to. No one has that luxury at away games, and it is a real problem for people who can’t stand for 90 minutes, or for children unable to see anything over the person in front of them. Even a problem for people like me who are just lazy and don’t want to have to stand up for the full 90 just because someone in the front row has decided that it’s their right to stand if they want to.
I do remember a stern warning to supporters in the Southbank earlier this season that they risked losing their season tickets (I’m sure a measure that the club weren’t keen to invoke), but I’m not aware of it making any long term difference. Stewarding standing in seated areas at away games is a difficult one, and effectively unenforceable, as far as I can see. As I’m sure you’ve seen, no sooner do stewards force people to sit down (not a pleasurable job given the abuse they get) than those who want to stand up again (usually preceeded by a chorus of the truely irritating ‘Stand up if you love the Wolves’). Again, the only solution I can see that keeps everyone happy is to create a safe area for those who want to stand to do so.
Giving in – true. Creating a better matchday experience for everyone – true again.
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Some wise words there mate but its not about ‘giving-in’ it is giving a sizeable number of customers a choice. Only on planet football would the customer be told. “No thats it, take it or leave it and whats more if you dis-obey you will be punished”. All away ends should have a safe standing section based on rail seats behind the seated section. It cuts both ways I hate people who follow my club who do not ‘support’ but ‘consume’ football. they sit and moan about players, boo (unthinkable to me) the team and expect everyone to be playing like barcelona and ‘entertain’ them. They attend one away game and tell people who have been going for decades through thick and a lot of thin how to talk, behave and ‘sit-down. You could not make it up really how much the game has been infested by these ‘Nufans’
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Charles, just to confirm I meant no offence by my comments, I was just highlighting the fact that seating is a must for a variety of people
I cannot give a big opinion on the current home games as I live waaay up north and am only able to get to some away games these days (hull, bolton etc). I don’t think Hull was as bad as Bolton, but that may have been because I went with a friend instead of a my wife so I may have noticed the issue less although I am pretty sure we sat down for most of the first half at least. Bolton was extremely frustrating as I mentioned because I had been informed that they made a stand (forgive the pun) against this type of selfish behaviour when I checked prior to buying tickets for my pregnant wife and I, but obviously they don’t. I noted one older person who managed to move seats so they had more chance of a view from a seated position which was exactly what I was going to do had they not beaten us to it (I was outpaced by a speedy older lady!). I should point out that I have nothing against standing, I did it for the whole of my youth as a kiddy harriers season ticket holder for the late 80s/90s, but it is worth noting that I stood right on the hoardings next to the pitch so I could see (I was only small), and the stands weren’t full! I did also go to wembley twice following kiddy and couldn’t see a thing as everyone stood up so standing wasn’t all good 
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You mention going to the front as a child previously. That highlights one big problem with the seating/standing combo: If you’re stuck behind someone taller than you you’re pretty much stuck there – barring the luck of your ‘speedy older lady’
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with the german rail seats and modern stadium design at correct angles this is not an issue at all.
Two decades of attempted behaviour modification, stewarding and police based threats yet 30% of people want to stand why? All humans stand during moments of high excitement its wired into us. The issue is for me as a fan of football the whole 90mins is high excitement. I respect that for more middle class ‘consumers’ of football as one of many leisure choices, high excitement may only be when a goal is scored or a prawn falls out of their sandwich. But surely it is in everyones interest to provide a diversity of facilities as Lord Taylor himself said in is report on Hilsborough. The trouble is since then football has become something only for the moneyed few who do not care about those less fortunate who need a cheaper alternative. The rail seats would do this if only more people could stoo thinking about themselves and think of the whole crowd.
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Hull City fan here, i happened upon this as I am researching safe standing. I prefer to stand and so does my son who is 14 he prefers away games because there is more freedom of movement so the standers can get together and have a sing-song. This is a classic case of where the majority (those 70% who want to sit)could help the minority who want to stand by simply backing the safer standing movement. From both sides each others position looks selfish yet with some common sense and enlightened politicians we could make the change. The german rail seat system is as close to 100% safe, UEFA complient and increases a clubs revenue. The trouble was never because of terraces it was a reaction of large numbers of working class youth travelling to ‘foreign’ cities for pretty much the first time from the 70s to the 90′s and when that generation was replaced or calmed down it disappeared. Today our grounds are populated by the top two social groups and the average age of a season ticket holder is rising year on year. young kids and young adults are not going to games unless someone can pay for them. Our grounds are like libraries for atmosphere and without cheap accessible participation football as a live event will burst its bubble soon. check out the FSF safe standing petition and get behind it for the sake of all fans.
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